Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The GOP has taken personal attacks to a new low. This is what they tried to do to Bill Clinton. Enough of the GOP & the Blue Dogs! Don't vote Republican & don't give to the DSCC unless you're assured the money won't go to Blue Dogs! And keep your radical butts out of NYC.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Let's hold off on all contributions to the DSCC until we get healthcare reform. I don't want my hard-earned dollars spent on Max Baucus or any other blue dog. Let 'em get it from the Republicans @ the insurance industry!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Name: : anthony theisenIssue: : health careThoughts: : obama is totaly right with health care why make a whole new health care and start over when there is some good parts about our health care it saves moeny and it gives us the best health care we can get--Visitor Ip: 71.201.78.133

On Wednesday, September 2nd, I attended the town hall health care forum with Congressman John Larson and an excellent panel of speakers. I happen to come across a blog post by Rick Green on his Courant.com blog, CTConfidential, entitled, "Paranoia runs deep: Read memo from CT Tea Party Central!." Green's commentary focuses on a memo that was sent to "Liberty Supporters" about yesterday's event. The memo states that:

"[T]here were many of our people who showed up at the West Hartford town hall and although we were not allowed to go inside - because the room was packed with Obamacare supporters...we had plenty of people outside protesting and shouting down the other side.

Larson's folks bused people in - I hear that some came from Massachusetts. There were a bunch of kids - like 12 year olds ... also SEIU people and Planned Parenthood people and union employees ... plus some high school and college kids - who clearly did not know what they were asking for or what this issue is really about." Full article.

I am a proud resident of West Hartford, Connecticut. I say proud because residents in my town, like many others, have a longtime reputation for being actively involved in our community. We regularly come out to town hall gatherings to hear from our elected officials and others on any given issue that is important to us. In fact, this is one of the reasons why we have one of the best K-12 public school systems in the country, and enjoy one of the highest voter turnout rates in our state. Moreover, when there is a town hall gathering on a critical issue close to us all, we all know to arrive early, or at the very least on time, to ensure that we get not just a seat, but a good seat.

There were no buses at yesterday's event. There was a large representation from the community (and the first CD), i.e., elderly/retired citizens, small business owners, families, clergy, students, community activists, elected officials, as well as groups and organizations that are, in fact, a part of every community. In other words, do some of us belong to unions, to organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, AARP? Are some of us community activists, members of the Faith community, and more? Are some of us students? Do we come out as a family? Yes, to all of these and more.

As for those who oppose some of the proposals of health insurance reform, I found that the majority of these individuals stayed clear of a relatively small group of loud hecklers. Once inside, one man who stated that he opposed health care reform called out for hecklers in the rear of the room to stop heckling so that we could hear what the speaker was saying. It was clear that the majority of participants, regardless of their personal viewpoint, wanted to hear from Congressman Larson and the panel of speakers.

Rallies are all about a call to action for a cause through signs, slogans, buttons, stickers, handouts etc. And both sides rallied vigorously outside on the green in front of town hall.

Just prior to the forum, supporters of health insurance reform hosted a press conference outside on the front steps of town hall. Clergy and speakers did their best to be heard over those who shouted at them in opposition. The most heart-wrenching scene was the shouting at a person who shared their story of health insurance denial, sickness, loss and despair by those in opposition stating that they did not care about that person's problems. This is heartless and shows a complete lack of humanity in every way.

To disagree on an issue or policy proposal on how we will accomplish health insurance reform provides for a healthy debate and allows for a diverse pool of thoughts and ideas, when done constructively. To deliberately stop the flow of dialog at all costs, to disparage those who, of no consequence of their own doing, become victims of our broken health insurance system, is despicable and unconscionable behavior that creates no value for anyone.

We must all call on our sense of humanity and engage in meaningful dialog. It matters not what our personal viewpoint on health insurance reform is. We are all in this boat together and there is a hole in the floor of the boat called health insurance costs. If we do not act constructively to close that hole, we will all sink.

Name: : susan RidenourIssue: : public optionThoughts: : Last fall I borded a train bound for health care with public option. President Obama was the engineer. It has been a long and bumpy ride, lay overs, unscheduled stops, several breakdowns and detours. I don\'t mind all this. However if I end up in never never land, I will never ride this train again.--Visitor Ip: 68.2.79.116

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Over the past few months, two things have become clear about the fight for health insurance reform:

1. Our opponents will create and spread outrageous lies to try to stop President Obama from creating real change.2. We just can't count on the media to debunk them.

As President Obama described recently:

If somebody puts out misinformation... then the way the news report comes across is, "Today, such-and-such accused President Obama of putting forward death panels. The White House responded that that wasn't true." And then they go on to the next story. And what they don't say is, "In fact, it isn't true."

So we'll need to double our own efforts to get the truth out. That means more organizers running door-to-door canvases and phone banks to educate our neighbors, more events to spread the word to Congress, and more ads on the air countering the smears. And we'll need the money to pay for it all. Please chip in $5 or more to help make it happen.

There's no doubt that the facts are on our side. Real reform will bring down costs, create more choices -- including the choice of a public option -- and guarantee access to health care for all of us.

Stepping in when the media fails is a daunting challenge -- but this community has already come together and accomplished feats no one thought was possible. We did it for last year's election, and we're already doing it again as Organizing for America. In the three short months since we launched our first organizing drive for health care reform, OFA volunteers have held more than 12,000 events in every part of the country to spread the truth about reform and the need for change.

Together, we can prove that no lie, no matter how scary, is more powerful than an organized group of people determined to get out the truth.

We'll all need to step up -- and right now that means chipping in to make sure we can keep organizing hard to spread the truth and pass real reform in 2009.

So we rolled into Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon, just past the new football stadium. We drew a big crowd just down the road at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis — not as many people as pay to watch Peyton Manning throw a football, but spirits were high and the commitment to reforming our broken health insurance status quo was overwhelming.

On a gorgeous Indiana evening, 800 people came out to hear first hand accounts of how our system hurts everyday Americans — families, small businessmen, and people who never thought they had a reason to fear going without insurance. But Indianans also stood together for the change that needs to happen: guaranteed coverage for all, including the choice of a public option, with consumer protections to ensure that coverage is never taken from the sick or denied to those who need it most.

They heard one other thing: that we have to keep knocking on doors, making phone calls, taking action and letting members of Congress know that we need health insurance reform — now.

U.S. Rep. André Carson was there to hear the message loud and clear, and gave an emphatic speech explaining the importance of people making it known that change needs to happen. He was joined by an array of local leaders and organizers, among them an Indianapolis labor council official who summed up where we stood as August drew to a close: “It’s time. It’s past time.”

Absolutely right.

The local Fox affiliate has a story up about the event. We’re off to Columbus, Ohio, for a Tuesday evening rally at the state fairgrounds. If you live in the area, RSVP now; we’ll see you there.

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